Clip board



Nov. 9, 1965 H. T. STRAIN 3,216,742

CLIP BOARD Filed Sept. 19, 1962 Harold 7. Strain IN VEN TOR.

United States Patent Office 3,216,742 Patented Nov. 9, 1965 3,216,742CLIP BOARD Harold T. Strain, 137 Clubview Drive, Jackson, Miss. FiledSept. 19, 1962, Ser. No. 224,632 1 Claim. (Cl. 281-44) This inventionrelates to a board and an attached sheet material clamping devicecombination which is popularly referred to in the trade and art as aclip board and has to do, more particularly, with a novel clampingdevice and a board which is functionally designed and structurallyadapted to accommodate the clamping device.

Briefly the board is provided on one marginal side with T-shaped slotmeans which is arranged and adapted to facilitate the attachment theretoof the clamping device. The clamping device comprises a simple normallyfiat unit featuring novel component parts which cooperate in part withthe slot means and in part with the surface of the board on which thesheets are positioned and removably clamped.

In carrying out a preferred embodiment of the invention the board orpanel is provided on one marginal side thereof which the aforementioneds-lot means, the latter being substantially T-shaped in plan andembodying a first slot which is adjacent and parallel with thecooperating marginal edge, and a second slot shorter than the firstslot, disposed at right angles thereto and opening through said edge.

The clamping device is preferably of one piece construction and embodiesa pair of main clamping arms having inner end portions attached to acentralized body portion and outer free end portions terminating infingers which are designated and adapted to rest releasably on thesheets which are being positioned and clamped in place atop the board.

The clamping device also features a pair of normally coplanar auxiliary,arms which are resilient and are also joined at their inner ends to thebody portion, have their outer ends spaced from the corresponding outerends of the main arms and adapted to be removably seated in keepernotches provided therefor on the underneath side of the aforementionedboard.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective of the improved Clip board and whereinthe clip or clamping device is shown in its attached ready-to-functionposition;

FIGURE 2 is a view in perspective similar to FIG. 1 with the hingedlymounted cover panel attached and shown in its open position in fulllines and in its folded out-of-the-way position in phantom lines;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view in section and elevation taken on the planeof the section line 3-3 of FIG. 1 looking in the direction of thearrows;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary sectional view at right angles to FIG. 3 andtaken on the plane of the section line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary section taken on the plane of the section line5-5 of FIG. 3; and

FIGURE 6 is a View in perspective based on FIG. 1 but on a larger scaleand which shows the construction of the slot means and also the clipmeans, the component parts of the clip means being disposed in normalcoplanar relationship.

Referring now to the views of the drawing it will be seen that the boardor panel, is denoted by the numeral 8 and that the clip or clampingdevice is denoted by the numeral 10.

The board or panel 8 may be of suitable material and size and, generallyspeaking, corresponds to a conventional-type clip board such as iscurrently used for assembling, positioning and holding loose sheets. Thelongitudinal marginal edges are denoted at 12, one transverse marginaledge at 14 and the remaining transverse marginal edge at 16. This edgeportion 16 is provided with slot means denoted generally by the numeral18 in FIG. 6. This means 18 comprises a substantially T-shaped slotembodying a first relatively long slot 20 which is adjacent to andparallel with the edge 16 and which has rounded end portions at the leftand right as at 22 and 24 in FIG. 6. The complemental relatively shortcompanion slot 26 communicates at an inward end with an intermediateportion of the slot 20 and then opens at its outer end through the edge16 to provide an entrance for intended components or portions of theattachable and detachable clip or clamping device 10. This device 10 ismade from spring steel or an equivalent sheet material. The componentparts embody desired rigid and relatively resilient properties.Considering the normal or flatwise and coplanar relationship of theparts in FIG. 6, the median portion constitutes the body part 28 oneedge of which is provided with an open mouth V-shaped kerf 39 which inpractice may be employed for hanging or suspending the complete clipboard from a fixed nail, hook or the like (not shown). In line with thekerf and on the opposite edge of the body portion an integral flap-likeprojection 32 provides a finger grip having a laterally offset tipportion 34 and the surfaces 32 and 34 are suitably milled or knurled.Extending to the left and right (FIG. 6) of the body portion are theprimary or main arms 36 and 38, these arms being coplanar and inalignment with each other and having outer free end portions which arelaterally directed as at 40 to provide holddown fingers. The fingersterminate in downbent or lateral detents 42. The companion secondary orauxiliary arms are denoted at 44 and the inner ends are joined with thebody portion 28 to the left and right of the notch 30. The outer freeend portions are rounded as at 46 and are spaced inwardly from the leftand right fingers 40. While the fingers 36, 38 and 44 are in the sameplane when in a flat state (FIG. 6) it will be evident that these sameparts can be and are deformed and placed under tension when the clipmeans 10 is attached to the slotted end portion 18 of the board 8.

It will be evident that the aforementioned body portion 28 of the clipmeans is proportional in size to be accommodatingly fitted through theentrance or slot portion 26 to assume the position illustrated in FIGS.-1 and 2. It will also be evident that, particularly from FIG. 3, therelatively long slot 20 serves to accommodate the major portion of thearms 44. By comparing the illustration in FIGS. 1 and 2 with FIG. 3 itufiill be seen that the arms 44 fit into the respective slot ends 22 and24 and at the free tip portions are fitted into shallow keeper seats orgrooves 48 provided in the underneath surface of the board. It followsthat the two arms 44 provide attaching and retaining members for theoverall clip or clamping device 10 and the inherent resilient propertiesserve to place these arms 44 as well as the longer arms 36 and 38 undertension. Accordingly, the arms 44 when flexed bow down and out asillustrated in FIG. 3 and with respect to the fiat top and bottomsurfaces 50 and 52. On the other hand, the longer arms 36 and 38 howupwardly and extend in a plane in close proximity to the top surface 50somewhat in line with the slot portion 26. As a matter of fact, theintermediate portions of the arms 36 and 38 ride and fulcrum on theupper corner portions 54 as shown best in FIG. 3. It follows that bothpairs of arms are under tension and that the body port-ion 28 bulgesupwardly into the space or slot 26. Consequently by resorting to the useof the fingerpiece or grip (components 32 and 34) as though it werepress button it will be evident that by exerting thumb pressure on thesame the arms 36 and 38 will bow upwardly with the fingers 49 away fromthe surface 50 in a clearly understandable manner.

As will be evident the board 8 is distinguishable from other boards andpanels in the clip board field in that slot means is provided on atleast one marginal edge to accommodate the readily attachable anddetachable clip means 10. In actual practice the slot means could be onan edge other than that shown and in fact it might be within the purviewof the invention to employ slot means on two or more edges so that onemay locate the clip means on the board in any desired way. The clipmeans too is unique in that it is cooperative with the slot means insuch a way that the arms 44 and arms 36 and 38 grip both top and bottomsurfaces of the intervening board. Then, too, the manner in which therespective arms 36, 38 and 44 are above and below the surfaces of theintervening board is novel in that the bowed or flexed portion of theelamping means provides the desired depressible result when thefingerpiece, functioning as a pushbutton, is pressed down.

It is believed that a careful consideration of the specification inconjunction with the views of the drawing will acquaint the reader withthe construction broadly and specifically of the board or panel 8 aswell as the bodily attachable and detachable clamping device or clipmeans and, in addition, the manner in which these parts are assembledand function to achieve the full and dotted line result depicted in FIG.3.

It is within the purview of the invention to provide a secondary panel.This panel is denoted by the numeral 55 and is constructed to fit overthe main board or panel 8 either as shown in full lines in FIG. 2 orfolded back and out of the way to underlie the bottom as shown in dottedlines in the same figure. Any suitable panel may be employed and theedge portion 56 is hingedly mounted on the cooperating edge portion 16by way of adhesively attached fabric hinges 58.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

A sheet material positioning and clamping device comprising a rigidloose-sheet positioning and stacking board having at least one marginaledge provided with slot means substantially T-shaped in plan andincluding a main relatively long slot having rounded terminal endportions, said slot being proximal to, parallel with and spaced inwardlyfrom said one marginal edge and also including a companion andcomplemental shorter slot at right angles to said long slot andcommunicating at an inner end with a median portion of the long slot andhaving an outer end opening through said marginal edge, said T-shapedslot means being adapted to accommodate and permit the mounting of saidclamping device on the stated one marginal edge portion of said board,and a clamping device comprising a one piece clip embodying a pair ofcompanion main arms overlying and cooperating with top surfaces of saidboard and having outer free end portions terminating in laterallydirected resilient fingers, said fingers and arms being in a commonplane and having terminal downbent detents adapted to rest atop theaforementioned loose sheets of material, the respective median portionsof said main arms being engageable with and adapted to fulcrum uponmarginal edge portions of said short slot, said clip also having a pairof companion auxiliary bendably resilient arms, the respective inner endportions of the main and auxiliary arms being contiguous to each otherand joined with and connected by a resilient body portion oriented andcooperatively asssociated with the long and short slots of said slotmeans, said auxiliary arms being of a length less than the long arms andpositioned in said long slot, having free terminal ends projectingbeyond the ends of said long slot and releasably engaging in keepernotches provided therefor in underneath surfaces of the board at therespective end portions of said long slot, and said body portion beingprovided with an integral grippable and depressible fingergripprojeetable into and accessible by way of said short slot.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,365,320 1/21Hohnsbeen 2466 1,762,686 6/30 Hayashi 2466 2,329,974 9/43 Bennett 24259X 2,751,652 6/56 Epstein 2473 2,943,372 7/60 Fleming 281-44 X FOREIGNPATENTS 103,919 5/ 3 8 Australia. 664,213 1/52 Great Britain.

JEROME SCHNALL, Primary Examiner.

LAWRENCE CHARLES, Examiner.

